County commission to take up proposed 2015 budget

Topeka governing body to discuss potential employee pay raises

Shawnee County’s 2015 budget and potential pay raises for some employees of Topeka’s city government are among topics local governing bodies plan to take up this coming week.

The Shawnee County Commission will meet at 9 a.m. Monday in its chambers at the county courthouse, 215 S.E. 7th, where it plans to discuss and consider revisions to the 2015 budget.

A document in the agenda packet for Monday’s meeting indicates the commission’s starting point for making decisions will be a flat budget through which all departments, elected offices and entities receiving county funding would receive the same amount as in their 2014 budget, plus allow for enough extra funding to pay employees for an extra pay period the county will see next year.

Commissioners agreed by consensus Aug. 7 to seek to avoid raising the county’s property tax mill levy and to dedicate at least $650,000 toward wage increases for county employees.

Should a tax increase be necessary, they set a goal of keeping any such increase at less than 1 mill, which would amount to $11.50 annually for the owner of a $100,000 home.

Commissioners are expected Monday to make plans to continue discussing and revising the proposed 2015 budget on Thursday or on Aug. 25. The commission is required to finalize and submit that budget to the county clerk by Aug. 25.

The commission also plans to consider:

■ Reassigning the county’s contract for receiving energy audits from Chevron Energy Solutions Company to OpTerra Energy Services, Inc., which is buying from Chevron all parts of its business covered by Chevron’s contract with Shawnee County.

■ Acknowledging the county has received a petition from residents seeking to establish a leash law in Urban Hills Subdivisions No. 14, 15, 16 and 17, while setting a public hearing on the matter for 9 a.m. Sept. 4.

The petition indicates it was signed by residents of the 4300, 4400 and 5400 blocks of N.W. 53rd Terrace, 4400 block of N.W. 53rd, 5300 block of N.W. Lana Court and 5300 block of N.W. Melba Drive Court.

The Topeka City Council will meet at 6 p.m. Tuesday in its chambers at 214 S.E. 8th, where it will hear a presentation regarding a 2013 audit of Topeka’s city government and a comprehensive annual financial report.

The city’s governing body, consisting of the council and Mayor Larry Wolgast, will also consider approving an amendment to the city’s contract for 2014 through 2017 with employees in its development services and planning division.

Those workers are represented by Local 1294 of Missouri/Kansas State Council 72 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.

The current contract includes language that allows the two sides this year to negotiate wages. The proposal before the governing body would provide a 1.5 percent wage increase to the employees involved, plus a 5-cent longevity increase in pay for those whose evaluations conclude they met expectations or better.

■ Discuss a proposal to update the city’s zoning code while putting it into a matrix format intended to be more user-friendly than the current format. Governing body members are expected Sept. 9 to consider approving the proposal, for which the Topeka Planning Commission voted last month to express support.

■ Consider a consent agenda that includes the appointment of Patrick Woods and reappointment of Scott Gales to the Topeka Planning Commission.

It also includes the reappointments of Doug Kinsinger to the board of the Topeka/Shawnee County Riverfront Authority and Doug Hubbell to the city’s Board of Plumbing Examiners.